Leadership Randolph finds ways to make things better

From": The Randolph Guide

Start with community-minded leaders, give them a problem to solve, then stand back and watch them make things better.

That’s how the Business Community Coalition for Children — BC3 — came about. It’s an organization created by members of the 2013 class of Leadership Randolph to help provided needs of public school children. Michelle Harrell of Sentry Fire Protection and Linda Schumacher of Randolph Hospital are two of those in the class.

“As part of the Leadership Randolph program, you are required to do a community project and we wanted to do something that would last long after we’re gone,” said Harrell.

What they learned was that schools are limited in funding when it comes to providing for needs of students. But how could Leadership Randolph narrow their focus?

Enter Shelia Brumley, a special education teacher at School, where 95 percent of the children are on free or reduced lunches and there’s no Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) to raise money. One of Brumley’s students is highly susceptible to strokes and she was looking for help in purchasing an AED — automated external defibrillator — in the event of a cardiac emergency